New Condom Machines Are Ready for Refills

The condom machines installed in the houses and the Freshman Union by the Undergraduate Council last spring will be refilled for the first time next week, with only a few of the machines actually empty, according to house committee chairmen.

Northeast Concerns, the vending company which services the condom machines, will refill all of the dispensers sometime next week and will restock them once a month as "standard policy" this year, according to council member Noam Bramson '91. The machines, which hold 80 condoms, may be serviced more often if they are empty before the usual refill date.

In addition, the price of the condoms will be reduced from 75 cents to 50 cents once the machines have been serviced, Bramson said.

At Dunster House, where the condom machine has been empty for several days, house committee members feared earlier this week that the council was not planning to refill the machines regularly.

"I hope this does not reflect that the council is no longer concerned [about safe sex]," Thornton said.

Summer school students living at Dunster this past year probably helped empty the machine, according to David J. Thornton '89, chairman of Dunster House Commitee.

The dispenser at Mather House needs both a repair and a refill, said Jimmy W. Lew '89, house committee chairman there.

The machine was vandalized earlier this year, and Lew said he believes all of the condoms were stolen from the broken machine.

The condom machine at Cabot House still "seems to be filled," according to house committee Chairman Greg G. Nadeau '89. Nadeau said that it was "not a high priority" to publicize the existence of the machine at his house and he knows of no one who uses the machine.

The machines in Currier House have also "always been nearly full," said house committee chairman Sean Boulger '89. The dispensers are "in a bathroom that is not all that conspicuous," he said.

The council pushed for installation of the condom machines ten months ago but had to wait until May to install them because of complications arising over insurance and house committee approval.